Modern facilities often need and/or use some form of an electronic/remote/automated system to control entrance/access to the facility. By way of examples, and not by way of limitation, such facilities include apartment complexes, gated communities, condominium buildings, college resident halls, office buildings, factories, industrial sites, and other secured locations. Among other things, such access control systems can provide a necessary or helpful level of security for the controlled area/building, as well as other benefits.
Also by way of example but not by way of limitation, one type of access control system commonly in use is known as a telephone entry system (TES). These TES access control systems include at least one telephone line operatively connected to the system. Among other applications, these systems are commonly mounted adjacent the entrances of buildings and/or at vehicle gates into complexes, and the telephone line permits visitors to dial a resident within the complex and permits that resident to enter a code (such as by pressing a number on their telephone) to open the controlled gate and/or unlock the controlled door, etc. at which the visitor is waiting.
In addition to enabling tenants to remotely open a gate/door for a visitor, such systems can provide security and access control in other ways. For example, tenants commonly are given passcodes (which can be entered at a keypad on or near the entry), proximity cards, remote “rolling code” transceivers, or other devices. These are some of the wide variety of technologies that exist and/or are being developed to allow those tenants (or other persons to whom such authorization and/or devices are given) access to a particular facility, building, complex, community, or similar location.
Such access control systems can control entry at one or more entry points (for example, doors, garage doors, gates, and similar structures) associated with a particular secured location, complex, or facility. The access control system may also monitor the connected/controlled entry points for unauthorized access, keep records of persons entering or leaving a secured area, and/or perform other functions.
Such controlled installations commonly involve a plurality of tenants, residents, visitors, vendors, or other users who need access into and/or out of a controlled area. Each of these authorized users can have associated codes/passwords/signaling devices/telephone numbers (for visitors to dial to request entry), and/or other data that must be available to enable the convenient and desired entry and exit in the secured area, while maintaining the desired security. Both the users and their control devices and related information can be varied and changing, such as when tenants move out and/or into the facility.
To manage all of that information, these systems typically include an electronic database. In many early systems, the data/database resided only on the gate controller or door controller unit itself. To update and maintain that data, the end user had to physically go to that control point/system and manually enter/update the data (typically via a keypad).
More recently, and especially as personal computers and modems have become available and more economic, these access control systems have evolved to allow end users to manage the data/database from a “remote” location, rather than having to go to the controller itself and manually update the data. These improved systems allow the end users to manage their respective database without having to be “at” the access control device (gate/door controller, etc.). Commonly, this was accomplished by including in the remote database management/control system an analog modem at the control point (commonly built into the door/gate controller itself). During installation, the telephone line at the control point (the one that was already needed and used to allow visitors to “call” tenants to obtain entrance to the facility) also is connected to the modem. This arrangement typically allows such systems to provide both the telephone and modem functions on that single line, because the amount of time needed for modem activity over the telephone line (for database maintenance) typically is relatively small. Thus, without adding to the existing monthly telephone line charges for the control system, the end user can enjoy the benefits of remotely managing the database information on the control system.
Persons of ordinary skill in the art will understand that, in such installations, the actual physical distance (or “remoteness”) between the gate/door/other controller and the end user's personal computer or other input node can vary greatly, from only a few feet or a few yards to halfway around the earth. Modem technology permits the end user to access the controller (and thereby revise the data on that controller) from anywhere the end user can reach a telephone signal with the end user's own corresponding modem. Among other things, end users could sit in their office or home and use their own modem (the one on or associated with their personal computer) to “dial into” the analog modem at the control point.
Once the modems are communicating with each other, the end user can modify and/or update the database information. Software typically allows the end user to maintain a copy of the relevant data/database information on their personal computer, and to synchronize or otherwise update that data with some or all of the data on the remote control point system. If the remote control point systems also tracked “transactions” that occurred at the control point (data for each entry or exit through that control point, such as the time/date/person passing through, etc.), the modem connection could similarly be used to “synch” or download that data from the remote control point system to the end user's computer (where the end user could analyze or otherwise use it).
Thus, such systems allowed the “end user(s)” or manager(s) to update the data within their database (such as when a former tenant moved out of a building and/or a new tenant moved in), without requiring the end user to manually input/update the data at the control point itself (e.g., go to the gate controller and delete old codes, enter new ones, etc.).
The data communications between the end user and existing gate/door controllers commonly includes at least the following: (1) “uploads” or synching of database changes made by the end user (from the end user's computer to the remote control point system); (2) “downloads” or synching of the “transaction” data to the end user's computer from the remote control point system (for data that is initially gathered and stored by and on the remote control point system); and/or (3) “downloads” or synching of the authorization data (or even the complete data from the database) from the remote control point system to the end user's computer (this is useful, for example, if the end user's local computer crashes and loses its copy of the database, or if a new or additional “end user” needs to have a copy of the data on their own personal computer).
As indicated above, these access control systems typically include a main control unit located at a primary entrance of the facility. Depending on the size of the structure or area being monitored and the use of that area/building, additional remote control units may be provided to control additional remotely located entry points. In other words, particular applications and situations may involve secured buildings or areas having a plurality of controlled access points. Depending on the logistics and economics of any particular installation or application, each access point (gate/door/etc.) can have one or more dedicated control systems/computers.
As noted above, the manufacturer and/or installer of the access point controller system or systems may provide one or more of its own “standard” database programs for the relevant end user(s). This database software typically is installed on the end-user's general purpose computer, and is configured with appropriate data fields and related information to permit desired control and operation of the security system. Commonly, the database “mirrors” the data that is stored on the remote controller units. The end user can readily revise the local copy of the data (on the database on their general purpose computer) and then “synch” that copy with the remote controller (or take some other approach, such as just copying/overwriting the revised data to the remote controller, etc.).
In other applications, users could provide or use their own or third party database software to manage the security access control data for such systems. Examples include personnel databases, tenant databases, custom databases built to interact with the controlled access point hardware and software systems, and others.
As indicated above, however, “remote” control systems such as the foregoing need a way to communicate between the end user's system and the controller box or unit located “remotely” from the end user. Typically, the necessary data update is provided by establishing direct communication between the two analog modems described above. In other words, the end user uses the modem on the user's personal computer to dial directly into the modem on the remote controller. Thus, this typical prior art communication occurs directly over a conventional telephone line, between the (1) user modem, and (2) the controller modem. Once the user has completed the desired communications between those modems, the user terminates the communication link.
For several reasons, setting up and maintaining the desired data/database communication through that conventional pathway ((1) user modem/(2) telephone line/(3) controller modem) can be complicated or at the very least involve a not insignificant amount of manual configuration. This is true for the initial setup of the equipment and any subsequent changes (such as when a user gets a new computer, or adds a computer to use as an alternative user input node). Among other things, at any of those points in time, both the end user's general purpose computer and the associated modem(s) may be any of a wide variety of makes and models. Each of those makes and/or models can require custom settings in order to establish the prior art systems' required direct communication with the analog modems at the control access point(s).
Thus, even if a given gate control manufacturer/installer tries to “standardize” all of its installations/systems around the world (so that they all use only one or a few different models of modems within the relevant remote controller(s)), each installation typically has to be “custom” installed, to be sure that the particular end user's computer/modem can properly communicate directly with the remote controller(s).
As indicated above, there are many different modem manufacturers, and each modem may require different/custom programming in order to facilitate the desired communication. Historically, an end user's general purpose computer typically included a pre-installed modem (which was of unknown origin and characteristics, from the viewpoint of the access control system manufacturer/installer). In addition, however, end users may buy modems independently of their computers, including not just new internal modems but also external modems. Not only do manufacturers/installers have to be prepared to customize their security systems to communicate through the end users' “old” or vintage modems, the systems must work with “new” modems or modem-simulation technology that may come with an end user's new or upgraded general purpose computer. More specifically, many computer manufacturers no longer install hardware modems, but instead use software modems that “simulate” modems.
In addition, the general purpose computer's modem (internal or external) may be used by multiple programs on the computer (such as facsimile programs and/or dial-up Internet access). This multi-use situation can interfere with the necessary communication between the end user's system and the access control system, possibly even leaving the user's modem/computer unusable to communicate with the remote control access system. Adding to the potential problems, noise on the telephone lines connecting the modems can disrupt a modem signal and/or cause data communication errors.
Another issue for communicating using computer analog modems is their relatively slow speed. As general purpose computer users have come to expect faster Internet access (such as through a network-type connection such as DSL or cable), the relatively slow data transmission between analog modems can be frustrating for users.
Being able to quickly and accurately update data within such remote access control systems can be important for a number of reasons. For example, inaccurate or incomplete data for the remote controller can inconvenience many people, and/or adversely affect the security of the controlled location, both of which can negatively impact the user's business and/or personal life in many ways. If the data used to control an access gate or door cannot be reliably and easily updated, for example, the affected tenants likely will grow frustrated by the resulting delays in entering/exiting the premises, and/or may demand or find ways to circumvent the security, or even may decide to cancel or not renew their leases. Therefore, in addition to being a daunting task, reliable and secure and easy data transfer between the end user's computer and the remote access control system can be an important task.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods and apparatus that simplify the transfer of electronic data and/or other information between an end-user's computer and a remote target system such as an access control system for a facility's gate(s) or door(s).